A newsletter for the Portland area Didjeridu player......Mar 2002 Volume 8 Issue 3
by Ed Drury
For several years now, I've enjoyed the company of Dave during brief visits while he tours the western US on his annual "didj pilgrimage". Though we seldom have more than an hour or so to chat, we seem to always get deep into discussions of death, "no mind" , lucid dreams and other things. It's been several years, though, since I got him to share some of what is going on in his world in an interview. With an up coming CD release to talk about and all the changes I've observed in him, I thought it was time.
[Ed] It's been some time since our last interview. I'm fortunate that I usually get to see you, albeit briefly, each year as you make your yearly "pilgrimage" around the western United States. I wonder if you wouldn't mind talking about some of the highlights of these excursions?
[Dave] In 1995 I bought my first computer that could connect to the world wide web. I had just learned how to play the didjeridu -. So naturally, the first thing I looked for on the web was whatever was out there on my new favorite instrument! The first thing I found was the www server at Mills College. At the time there were very few didjeridu links, one of them of course was Ed Drury's! The Mills site had a page that included a very comprehensive list of didjeridu players and their contact information. I used this list to find the highest concentration of players close to me, and it was guess where? Portland and San Francisco. Now a dear friend, the closest to me who seemed to be a must-see was Al Shockley in Arizona. I was completely crazy about playing and learning about the didjeridu in those early years, so I just soaked up everything I could from him. He became a mentor who gave much needed praise and confidence to my playing. During my first meeting with Al, Spring Break of 96, he invited me to play with his band the Northern Sonoran Breath Dreamers that summer at the Oregon Country Fair. This Oregon destination is what led to my yearly "western pilgrimages". I am a teacher and thus have the summers off. So, my summer plans were to travel and meet everyone I could contact through the internet who played the instrument! So, I would plan and plan by e-mailing and phoning everyone I could along the rout from Boulder to Portland and back. Ed Drury was one of the big names (nudge nudge), but added to the list were Rob Thomas - New Mexico, Tom Lange - Portland, Geoff Brown - then of Palo Alto, Marko Johnson - Utah, and Brandi Chase - formally of Utah. I realized that I could stay with these people along my path, get to know them, share our love for the instrument, and move on to the next one always culminating in the Oregon Country Fair! It was a dream come true! Now to answer your question about the highlights: The first one that pops to mind is from last summer playing with Stephen Kent in the bottom level doorway of his converted barn. The sunlight angling low, filtered through the yellow and green leaves and the tiny insects & airborne pollen of the Pacific Coastal forest grove - his daughter swinging a stick around, skipping and laughing as we played some really cool organic quick rhythms that felt so natural. That was a moment of what the Tibetan Buddhists would call "Drala" or beautiful perfection, and my mom would call "heaven on earth". Another moment would be playing at night in the campsite of the Oregon Country Fair into a gourd and having a very good drummer and guitarist sit in on a long inspirational jam. That was another moment of Drala. Last year I stayed in two especially cool areas - one was with David Blonski in Garden Valley CA, and the other was with Geoff Brown in his new house in Bonny Doon CA. Both of these places had that Pacific rainforest thing going for them, as well as great company! After these visits I went up the coast to Forestville to visit my old buddy Rio Olesky. He and his wife Arrow have a beautiful little cottage surrounded by a garden. Portland, of course is also a beautiful place that just makes me sigh and fall into a sort of wakeful slumber every time I visit. It's sort of like coming home. So, the Country Fair site, being the destination, oddly enough became a means to an end.
[Ed] When we last talked, we spent some time on the subject of the Boulder Gatherings. I trust those continue and you are still involved in them?
[Dave] Well, not exactly! I'm honestly burnt out from doing them. This year I tried to talk Per & Eileen Hultquist into taking over the reins, but not knowing whether they might go to another event, they declined. So, I called up John Madill who decided he'd do it even though the summers are pretty hot in Maryland. So, it's at John's Barn this year! I'm going to give a little didj rhythm workshop, Randy & John as well as several others are giving workshops, and there's a night of staged didj music. Here's the link: JoyousNoise - click on East Coast Didjeridu Solstice Gathering.
[Ed] So, now you are about to release your first CD. It's been a long time coming and I'm sure there is quite a history behind both the music and your decision to "get it down" on a CD release. Can you give us a little insight into your creations and the process leading to the finished CD?
[Dave] I'm probably about half way to completion as of this writing. It was originally meant to be a compilation of all my creations but just a small demo. However, I managed to get some great musicians on board and decided at one point to add vocalized animal noises, which is really my forte (I've done these my entire life) as a backdrop or mosaic in which to swath the music. So, because of the animal sounds it's going to be a full blown concept CD called "Animal Dreams". The history of how this project came to be starts with Darren Skanson's CD called "World Meditations" which includes my song called "animal dreams". It's just me on didj and Tom Kapek on synth. When I was in his studio recording the song, he hinted to me that I should make my own CD and that he would like to do it. I was impressed with his work ethic, easy going - yet focused nature, and his attention to detail. So, a few years later when I felt ready to du it, I called him up. He had just bought a building and moved his studio in when we re-connected, so the timing was perfect! Darren has such a great ear for quality that I'm learning every day from him on how to listen selectively to every little nuance when engineering. He's a master at the controls and I'm constantly amazed at his intuition and prowess with recording, mixing, and mastering. Early on in my didj playing, I had a dream of a rhythm which I played immediately when I woke up. Later, I learned that this rhythm was a 7 count. I looked for and played with several different mid-eastern style percussionists, so I continued to develop different mid-eastern odd count rhythms. Three of these are on the CD, and I'm so lucky to have Boulder's finest Oud, Dumbek, and vocalist on the CD! Cameron Powers of the Boulder band Sharefe is the Oud player and decided the melodies while I decided the rhythmic structure. "Seven" is pretty much what I did on the Didjeridu USA CD, but with great instrumentalists to play with! "Mastika Kashlama" is a 9/8 song about a drink. Sort of a "Wasting Away in Margaritaville" Egyptian style. It starts and ends in B, but shifts to D and quickens as an interlude. "Sheba" is 6/8 which includes the lovely voice of Meagan. She came in, listened to what we had laid down, ripped out 2 takes, and simply went on her way. We all pretty much stood there with our jaws agape! About two years ago I met Jeff Sollohub the former of the band BushTic. He contacted me on the phone one day because he was looking for a drone instrument to play with some of his sitar tunes. When I auditioned, he loved my sound and asked me to join his band. One of the tunes on my CD is his song "Awakenings" which we re-mixed to show off the didj. The title track of the CD is "Animal Dreams" which I did on Darren's CD. It's the slowest didj track and the only new-agey number. "Turtle Cricket" everyone who's heard me will recognize! It's a quick sort of ho-down that brings me back to my Appalachian roots. The percussion is just clapping hands. The idea came from my habit of including audiences when I play this tune in public. I just wanted to recreate that sound on the CD, so we recorded four people clapping. After four tracks, we duplicated each one four times to make the clapping seem like a room full of people. "Yin Yang" is a song inspired by a Resonance tune that I really love and the didj that Ben Hicks made for me. This particular stick sounds like the one Jeremy plays in his song, it enables me to play quickly with good boop control, and the symbol on the front of the didj is a Yin Yang. So, as you can see it adds up! I also included two of my Haitian style drumming buddies - Ron Holmes and Eric Walker. They play a song to accompany the didj's 5/4 called "Petwo" which is a 6/8 polyrhythm where one part is actually a 5/4. "Windhorse" will be a Ron Holmes harmonic overtone amalgamation that is the only non-didjeridu song on the CD. Finally, I'm considering adding a didj solo in the count of 5, and "Cricket Dance" - the song I did with Murphy Jackson on DP1. I was talking with Brandi Chase when she visited Boulder last about my CD. When she heard that I wanted to call it "Animal Dreams", she said the first thing that comes to mind for the cover art is animal crackers. So, I'm totally going with her first impression! I'm hoping that the CD cover will be as entertaining as the music itself!
[Ed] What are the influences on your playing and how have they shaped your playing as it is today and how do you see yourself progressing?
[Dave] Well, the reason I became interested in playing the didjeridu is the playing style of Graham Wiggins. If I had not heard "Baka" I would never have even picked up the instrument. You see, my approach to the instrument is strictly percussive. I'm really a frustrated drummer who found his avenue to percussion through his mouth. So, add that to a mouth sounds guy who developed his mimicking skills at a young age, and you've got me! So, I guess my own childhood nature, rhythmic need, and Wiggins were the original influences. After learning how to circular breath from a former Junior High student Patrick Walsh, my main influence was probably Murphy Jackson. He had learned from our current mutual buddy, Rob Thomas. It probably feels so natural when I jam with Rob because much of my style originated with him.
Another influence is Stephen Kent. His crisp sound is unequaled in the didj world, and I always strove to get something as clean out of my sound. I didn't try to emulate his cheek style since that's really his trademark and I prefer a more bounce-breath style anyway. I look forward to playing with him again. Right now, I'm exploring rhythm on drums. The more I played didjeridu, the more I became able to express my rhythm into and beyond my extremities. I'm playing every Sunday with a group of guys that focus on Haitian stuff, but we play a little of everything. So, I guess part of my progression goes beyond the didjeridu. I do plan to go to Australia someday soon, but just as a visitor, not to pick up killer didjeridus cheaply or to learn rhythms from the masters. I am a musician who simply opens his eyes to the world around him. No need to push the proverbial rock uphill! Part of this answer involves the Tao. My lifestyle is based on the belief that the best way to get things done is by not-doing. That doesn't mean that one lets things pass without interaction, but that one doesn't make things happen. The right way to act is to be ready for your best effort by having a clear mind, and only acting when appropriate. Obviously meditation has played a key role here, and will continue as a big part of this life until it ends.
It has been a wonderful and enjoyable evolution through the years that I've known you Ed, and we've taken different paths. But, we're the same in that we prefer to be thought of as having "a beginner's mind". I have always enjoyed our conversations about life, death, and reality! Keep that young mind as it opens the door to all possibilities!
Animal Dreams CD - Order info, sounds, reviews and links.